Denver — Jacob Yslas has gold in his blood. Whether he strikes it on Saturday night is yet to be determined.

Yslas is cousins with state champion Matt Addington, who graduated from FHS in 2010 after winning titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

"I want to win it for me, for my family," Yslas said at the Pepsi Center shortly after winning his 126-pound semifinal match against Sheridan's Anthony Contreraz.

Addington knows what it takes to win a gold medal, and he said Yslas has realized that this year.

"I first noticed it watching him in camp," Addington said at the Pepsi Center in Denver, the site of the Class 3A state wrestling tournament. "Something changed in him this year and he'd just run through anybody. He had a determination about him."

Charlotte Yslas watches her son Jacob Yslas during the Class 3A state wrestling tournament at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Friday. (Brandon Hopper / Daily Record)

Yslas will wrestle Saturday against Valley's Ruben Lucero, the tourney's top seed. The Florence senior is the tourney's No. 2.

Huskies coach Bob Masse has coached the three-time state champ and his hopeful cousin.

"(Addington was) one of those kids to beat him you'd have to kill him," said Masse, a 26-year head coach. "There was no stopping him. Jake's starting that, he's finally figured it out to put in the extra time."

Florence's Dustin James, the only other Husky who will wrestle on Saturday, is also Addington's and Yslas' cousin. Addington's father Craig Addington (FHS' assistant coach), Yslas' mother Charlotte and James' mother are siblings.